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This is what I remember:

  • Script is dialogue between the starship's alien commander and a low-ranking alien
  • It's about the low-rank simulating humans (who are extinct) and telling them they're dead
  • The humans have taken over the ship and the low-rank is there to negotiate surrender

It's very short but I can't seem to find it.

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  • When did you read it? When do you think it was written?
    – Null ♦
    Commented Jun 9, 2015 at 18:26
  • 2
    I'm very confused over your plot summary too... so the low-ranking alien was simulating extinct humans and telling them they were dead, but the simulations have taken over the ship? Is the low-ranking alien negotiating for the humans to surrender or for the aliens to do so?
    – FuzzyBoots
    Commented Jun 9, 2015 at 18:50
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    How can extinct species take over anything?
    – Wad Cheber
    Commented Jun 9, 2015 at 18:52
  • - Read it recently (within the year). No idea how old it is but doubt it's more than a few years. - Sorry for confusion. The simulatated humans went Rouge AI and took over bits of the ship. Yes the aliens should surrender. - By being an intelligent AI ;)
    – Ian Flemming
    Commented Jun 9, 2015 at 19:26
  • I keep checking in on this hope that someone will have found the right story.
    – dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten
    Commented Jun 13, 2015 at 15:10

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There are some similarities to Benjamin Rosenbaum's Hugo award winning short story "The House Beyond Your Sky" (from 2006), though I would not be surprised to learn that it is not what you seek because some of the details are not exact (this story is not in script form). On the other hand Mr. Rosenbaum's story is worth anyone's time.

Points of similarity:

  • There are simulated worlds containing intelligences, including one we meet intimately who is described in a way that sounds human (though this is not explicitly stated).

  • There is a conflict between senior and junior entities at the simulating level.

  • There is a breakout and attack by simulated entities (though not by the one we meet directly) who are mostly victorious.

  • The simulated entity that we meet ends in control.

Opening:

Matthias browses through his library of worlds.

In one of them, a little girl named Sophie is shivering on her bed, her arms wrapped around a teddy bear. It is night. She is six years old. She is crying, as quietly as she can.

Apparently the story is now available under a creative commons license, and it is also available in audio form from Escape Pod.

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  • You're right, it's not what I was looking for. But it sounds exactly like something I'd like. Thank you. I'll be reading it next.
    – Ian Flemming
    Commented Jun 10, 2015 at 5:00

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